CDA Essentials 2018 • Volume 5 • Issue 6

29 Issue 6 | 2018 | I ssues and P eople to assess one of seven competencies: communication, conscientiousness, integrity, judgment and analysis, self-control, sensitivity to others, and tact and diplomacy. In a survey of 48 successful UBC DMD applicants that Gardner conducted, they overwhelmingly preferred the MI over a standard panel interview, saying the former was more fair and reliable. “If they [applicants] blow it on one session, they can make it up in another,” she says. “In a standard interview, if you get off on the wrong foot with the interviewers or they take a dislike to you, you’re sunk.” For structured interviews, students can see previous questions posted on Facebook and can take courses to prepare, Gardner adds. But applicants can’t study for, or cheat on, MI scenarios used for DMD admissions at UBC: she, the former dean and the admissions committee write 24 new ones each year. “With regular interviews, it’s so easy to rehearse your answers,” says Kaitlin Olson (DMD 2017), who went through the MI process at UBC in 2013. She found most of the scenarios “very straightforward” and adds, “They [interviewers] got a fairly good sense of who I was.” Kiavash Hossini (DMD 2017), who also went through the MI process at UBC in 2013, says he prefers it to the standardized approach. “If you don’t connect with one interviewer, you have other chances. You can talk to other people. [With MI] they look for more aspects of a person.” a “If they [applicants] blow it on one session, they can make it up in another,” she says. “In a standard interview, if you get off on the wrong foot with the interviewers or they take a dislike to you, you’re sunk.” – Dr. Karen Gardner The Admissions Open House Impressive digital technology and spectacular scenery can certainly “wow” applicants at the DMD Admissions open house. But ultimately, UBC Dentistry’s people and culture win the hearts of top students. “I hear from applicants: ‘This is the only place where we’ve really felt welcome,’” said Dr. David Sweet OC, who served as open house emcee up until 2017. “‘You care. At other places, we’re treated like a number.’” Many of UBC Dentistry’s potential candidates have also applied to schools across North America and Australia. A fan of forensics and related TV shows, Kiavash Hossini (DMD 2017) says that Dr. Sweet’s “awesome,” “one-of-a-kind” speech at the open house helped him decide to make UBC Dentistry his first choice. “He talked about how they managed to solve a case by the bite imprint on a piece of cheese left at a crime scene.” As an architect, Hossini also said he appreciated the multiple walls of windows, natural lighting and venting at UBC’s Nobel Biocare Oral Health Centre. “All the other dental clinics [where he interviewed] were just four walls with a chair, no windows.” To thoroughly inform short-listed candidates, UBC Dentistry began hosting a two-day DMD admissions open house in 2007. This year [2016], there were 96 final applicants; each of three such events held over consecutive weekends in late January and early February was attended by 32 applicants. On day one, each applicant (with up to two guests) not only hears from the dean and faculty members, but listens to reflections and feedback from first-year students and recent DMD gradu- ates. Three dentistry faculty volunteers provide guided tours of the oral health centre and campus. Applicants visit the computer learning centre and interact with undergraduates work- ing in research labs. During lunch hosted by the dental undergrad society, applicants can meet with representatives of financial institutions. The dean provides a candid presentation on what costs DMD students can expect and what expenses these cover. On day two, applicants only are invited. They attend problem-based learning sessions in the morning and multiple mini interviews in the after- noon. To help them get ready for these important events, faculty give two separate PowerPoint presentations on day one. Students learn their role in the process, see a schematic of the interview rooms and receive hints and reassurance. Sweet said he encouraged applicants to approach any dentistry student during the open house and ask them what it’s like in the Faculty. He advised current students to be as honest as possible. After all, the Faculty’s open house is based on the principle of “informed consent,” he said—just as UBC Dentistry rigorously explains a dental procedure, including its risks and benefits, to patients before they agree to treatment. The open house gives as much valu- able information as possible to help would-be students make the best choice for them. This approach has paid off, says Vicki Koulouris, UBC Dentistry’s manager of Admissions. “Since we started doing the open house, we have had significantly more applicants, who were accepted elsewhere as well as by us, choose to come to UBC Dentistry. We’ve seen a huge difference—the number of ‘drops’ have dropped a lot.” For each open house, 21 UBC Dentistry staff, students and work-study volunteers ensure that activities operate efficiently and on time.